R&D Gueuze | New Glarus Brewing Company

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Brewed in the tradition of the Lambics of Belgium but using a blend of Ale Yeast, Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, and Acetobacter. These microorganisms came from our culture collection as well as many collected by Dan around the wilds of Wisconsin! Fermented and aged in Oak. This beer spent the summer of 2009 aging outdoors in used oak barrels, then bottle fermented.

Reviews by hu5om:

More User Reviews:

Thanks to my buddy Kevin for grabbing this for me while he was at the brewery! Pours into my glass a beautiful golden peach with a fast moving bubbly head that quickly subsides. Great clarity with lots of active carbonation. Aromas start out with a good deal of funk coupled with fruit tones. Cherry and vinous notes. Floral accents meld into a mellow woodiness as well. Mild vinegar works in. Nice!

First sip brings tart fruit upfront with notes of cherry and apple. Malt dances underneath with woody oak tones and a touch of vinegar. Good balance between sour, acidity and sweetness. Dry white wine moves in as it flows down. Lingering funk on the finish that leaves you coming back for more!

Mouthfeel is light and smooth with lots of fast moving carbonation...kinda champagne-esque. Pretty easy to drink as it is not overly sour or acidic. Cheers to New Glarus for taking the chance on brewing a Gueuze!! Glad to have the opportunity to try it and hope to see something like this from them again soon.

Thank YOU to Don (orbitalr0x)...hooking me up big time here.
First sampled at Great Taste 2010 and now a bottle to consume at home.
Pours a golden color with a thin, bright white head...no lacing. Quite still after this one sits in the snifter for a few minutes.
Aroma is divine with a lot of fruit...pear, strawberry (?), white grapes. Extremely inviting.
Taste is just as enjoyable...ah, who we kidding. Of course tasting the beer is better than just sniffing it! That prickly pear flavor kicks in up front with a delicate tart/sour complement. The sour works its way into the lingering finish and rounds out this world class creation. A small amount of the wood flavor shows up, but very much in the background here.
Mouthfeel is full of carbonation, but it complements the beer here.
Alcohol is non-existant. Despite some of the sour in the finish, it is quite dry and strips the palate clean almost completely after each sip. Love it.

500mL bottle poured into a Bells Tulip glass. This beer was shared amongst friends at a recent tasting.

This beer pours a crystal clear honey yellow with a generous white head with sticky lacing on the sides from the initial pour. New Glarus does know how to make a good looking beer but the lack of just a tinge of haziness makes me wonder if this was either filtered or how much (unmalted?) wheat was used.

The first thing I smell is an unmistakable presence of candied green apple skins. Its almost as if you sliced into a ripe tart green apple and stuck it into your nose. While that is pleasant and all I want some funk in my gueuze nose. There seemed to be a little lactic funk at the end but not having it dominating in the nose made me sad.

The taste finally comes through with some solid sourness. A clean seemingly refined lactic tartness is very present but still restrained compared to the benchmarks of the style. I then get some tart green apple sans the sweetness that was in the nose. The end finishes with a pleasant sharpness. The flavor is nice and refined but falls short in the real funkiness I crave in a well made and blended gueuze.

The carbonation is great, and as always mouth feel is spot on for a New Glarus beer. This beer is lively on the palette and the dry sharp finish combined the high carb has parallels to a champagne.

I'm a self admitted New Glarus fan boy, but I still pride myself on a honest review. With Dan Carey's previous assertion that this is a gueuze I kept my rating in line with that style. Much like previous reviewers have mentioned this is a great American Wild Ale but just a good gueuze. I really hope time in the bottle makes this beer less refined and gives it some unchained funk. I've got some bottles put aside to find out and I've got high hopes for future releases of this beer.

This is my second of the R&D beers sent to me in a package by Translucent. Thanks again!

Appearance- Pours a largely translucent golden appropriate for the style with about a half finger of fizzy head that dies back to some patchy layering in fairly short order.

Smell- Wow, a surprisingly fruity nose with a lot of pear, green apple, and grapeskin. A whiff of lactic acidity on the finish of the nose.

Taste- Again, very fruity. For me, this fruitiness really comes across as an almost pear-like flavor, though the green grapeskin and apple is also there. Not overly tart does finish with some acidity. There is also a little bit of something on the end that I was almost describe as a buttery-ness. Doesn't take away really but I would say that it surprised me a bit and didn't really seem to fit in.

Mouthfeel/Drinkability- Mouthfeel is not overly carbonated or thin and good for the style. Drinkability is also quite good as well and was by no means an acid bomb.

Overall, a very enjoyable beer from New Glarus. I'm really enjoying this R&D series, though I would have to say that of the three, this one comes in third for me so far. Nevertheless, very enjoyable.

T - begins fairly tart, with a bright lemony pucker. turns slightly sweet and fruity as the apples, bananas, and grapes meld with a light grassyness. grains are present throughout, before being cut into by a sharp lactic acidity, lemony sourness, light barnyard funk, and a barely detectable lingering metallic taste.

M - light body with bright, tight and prickly carbonation. cuts through the bold taste with sharp acidity, finishing very dry. refreshing but at the same time challenging, like a good Gueuze/Wild should be.

D - not bad at all, though maybe lacking a bit of that deep, subtle character that makes the best Gueuze's stand out. or should i be judging this as an AWA? doesnt matter, this is a decent attempt at a very old traditional style. good to cure a sour kick and not to be taken too seriously.

From tasting notes:
500ml bottle shared, into a Tulip
A: A hazy golden body, nice overall Gueuze appearance. No head or lacing, but standard for style. Good amount of carbonation.
S: Strong notes of lemon zest, orange and acid undertones.
T/M: The nose, hits the spot for this brew. A nice acidity to it, with notes of lemon, orange on this medium body. The finish holds a sensation of cake batter (best part for me). Sweet notes of spice, with a medium mouthfeel, this is an all around great gueuze.
D: I would love to have more bottle of this, seeing as I could drink it all the time, but the rest will see some age in the cellar, cannot wait to try some age on it.

Been waiting on this one for a while. Thanks to Matt (mtunnell) for this. Poured from a 500ml bottle into a Lost Abbey tulip.

A: Standard pour yields a 2 finger coarse, white head with decent retention that dissipates down to one finger and holds. Beer is a clear golden-rod, revealing ample carbonation. Lacing is patchy and with little stick.

S: Nose is strong with the signature New Glarus house yeast scent. A bit of oak, vanilla, lemon, apple, and soap. More sweet than it is funky, somewhat expected from a New Glarus offering.

T: Opens pretty intense tart apple and lemon. Slightly dry. Woody with distinct vanilla and floral soap overtones. Middle is yeasty and tartness starts to fade a little. Sour apple and lemon juice. Finish is a hint of diacetyl butteriness that throws me off a little but isn't all bad. Aftertaste is butter but doesn't last.

M: Light bodied and highly carbonated. Prickly and lively in the mouth. Invigorating at the start but smooths out quickly as it warms. Dry at the start but becomes a bit watery. Finish is subtle with an aftertaste that lingers for just a moment.

D: My first impression is that this beer is rather poor for a Belgian style geuze... but pretty decent for an American Wild Ale. Moderate complexity with a lively champagne body, this is a beer I could sip on all night long. Rather refreshing to see New Glarus' interpretation of this style. Worth seeking out.

taste: tart lemon, peach, funky yeast that will develop nicely over time, hay and grass, sugary candy, high acidity. Very nice sour offering - i'm not one to downplay a rating for skewing from a style while still being great as i think some are quick to do. It cant stand up to Cantillon Gueuze (nothing can) but its a great american sour that remains distinctly new glarus.

Big thanks to mikesgroove for bringing this one to share! Had during Hobo Tasting #5 along-side R&D BB Kriek down by the railroad tracks near RJ Rockers. Brewed 3.24.09, bottled on 8.6.10, 10 bbl batch. Served from bottle into a Duck-Rabbit snifter. Poured yellow-orange with a minimal bone white head. There was no lacing evident throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, sour, and big funk. The flavor was of sweet malt, big sour, tart, and funk. It had a light feel on the palate with medium-high carbonation. Overall this was an excellent brew. Had a very nice sour and tart aspect going on here that dominated the beer. The funk also really worked with these aspects to tie the entire brew together as a whole. This one was definitely more my style as compared to the R&D BB Kriek. Really glad that I have my own bottle that I can lay down for awhile and see how it develops. Definitely must have to find a chance to try this one!

First off, I have to recognize the ever generous zimmerbloke for hooking me up with this rarity from the mid-west. Thanks Matt. Shared the 16.9 ounce bottle with my wife. Poured into tulips.

Pour is pale gold with top notch clarity. There exists a nice two finger rocky snow white head that quickly recedes to a wisp ring around the glasses inside. No lacing exists but none was expected.
On the nose we have boat loads of vanilla, some raw wood, sour stone fruit, and lactic goodness. The promise of a great sour has been made!

This might just be the single most sour beer I've had to date! My skin literally prickled on my arms as I took my first sip! Goose bump causing sourness aside, a little peach, under-ripe grapes, and copious vanilla dance on the palate. A little graham cracker sweetness makes a cameo on the finish. Really, really, good flavors from top to bottom.

Spritzy, prickly carbonation help this finish clean and encourages another taste! This would be great with some spicy stir fry.

I love me some sour beers. The only qualm I have is that they are so highly drinkable, I always find my glass empty before I'm ready for it to be. This beer is no exception. Really fantastic brew. I've yet to find a New Glarus beer I don't thoroughly enjoy.

S- Nice fruity aroma with this one. Peaches come to mind first with some light grapelike notes. Oak does come through as well with a nice sour vinegar and green apple like aroma. This one has a huge funk to it but overall it seems to be a little balanced which I was surprised.

T- Peaches like in the aroma come out in the front with a dry oak like note right off the bat. Some slight vinegar sourness comes in next which seems to draw off the peach like notes. The grapes in the aroma come off ever so slightly in the middle of the beer. Green apple comes back in the backing of the beer along with a hint of wet grain. The green apple is sour but more natural flavor and not so much artifical. Light alcohol is in the very ending of it.

M- Light mouthfeel. Carbonation is good for the style. Peaches, oak, and vinegar are left on the palate. Aftertaste is mostly light alcohol, green apple funk, and wet grain. Flavors were balanced overall very nicely throughout the beer. No off flavors were present from what I can tell...even the green apple flavor was meant to be in there....or else it is one hell of a blended off flavor. Medium high alcohol drying on the palate.

O- This beer blew my mind away as it was not at all what I was thinking it was going to be. The ABV was not really there at all flavor wise only showing up in the drying of the palate. I could have drank this entire bottle if it were just me that had it. I will be looking for another bottle of this one!